Heel construction



Dec. 26, 1967 M. NADAUD HEEL CONSTRUCTION INVENTOR.

M k NADA up 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 4, 1965 Dec. 26, 1967 NADAUD3,359,660

HEEL CONSTRUCT IO N Filed Aug. 4, 1965 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 FIG. 7

INVENTOR.

MAkce'L Mwaup United States Patent 3,359,660 HEEL CONSTRUCTION MarcelNadaud, 130 Blvd. de la Repubiique, Saint Cloud, Seine-et-Oise, FranceFiled Aug. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 477,178 3 Claims. (Cl. 36-37) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE An improved heel construction involving a semi-rigidupper plate having one end secured to a lower resilient spring leafwhich lies in contact with the inside heel of the shoe, the upper platesupporting a heel of a wearer, the spring leaf including a plurality ofside wings which extend into actual sliding contact with the lowersurface of the upper plate when supporting the heel of a wearer.

The present invention relates to an improved heel construction includingan elastic support for shoe heels for men, women or children. Thesupport of the present invention is fixed on the inside of the shoe atthe level of the heel and designed to confer flexibility in walking.

The invention also relates to the assembly formed by a shoe and such anelastic support.

In more precise fashion the invention relates to an elastic support forshoe heels comprising a plate, called the upper plate, associated withanother plate called the spring leaf, which has a part in contact withthe shoe heel and is fixed to the latter.

The support of the present invention is characterized by the fact thatthe spring leaf, which is made of a material with good flexingcharacteristics, may be fixed at its front end to the upper plate andbent in such a way as to form a hinge.

The upper plate is made of a material that is pleasant in contact withthe foot and flexible but strong enough to withstand folding. The springleaf may be made of a plastic material (for example of acetal) and theupper plate may be made of plastic material (for example ofpolypropylene) Other characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention will appear in the following description, made in reference tothe attached drawings, and giving, in purely explanatory but in no waylimiting manner, two forms of embodiment of the support according to theinvention.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the presentinvention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGS. 1 to 4 relate to a first form of embodiment, of the elasticsupport according to the invention; and

FIGS. to 7 a second form of embodiment.

FIG. 1 represents, alone, a spring leaf according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is an upper plate according to the invention.

FIG. 3 shows the elastic support constituted including the leaf of FIG.1 and the plate of FIG 2 fixed together and in the unfolded state.

FIG. 4 shows the support of FIG. 3 in perspective, as it appears readyfor installation, finally,

FIGS. 5 to 7 shown a second embodiment of the elastic support of thepresent invention in views similar to FIGS. 2 to 4. (The spring leaf ofFIG. 1 can be suitable for this second form of embodiment.)

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the upper plate;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the upper plate of FIG. 5secured to the leaf of FIG. 1 in the unfolded state; and

3,359,669 Patented Dec. 26, 1967 ICC FIG. 7 is a view of the assembly ofFIG 6 as it appears ready for installation.

In these figures, reference is made to the attachment of spring leaf 2to the upper plate 1.

The upper plate 1 is advantageously made of plastic material, forexample of polypropylene, and the spring leaf 2, advantageously ofplastic material itself, for example acetal.

The spring leaf 2 of FIG. 1 has, at its front end (that is to say at itsend which is, once the elastic support is installed in a shoe, at thefront side of the shoe) a first set of two holes 3 and a second set oftwo holes 4 (this number of two holes for each set is not obligatory,however) and, at its rear part an opening 5.

The upper plate 1 of FIG. 2 has nipples 6 at the front part 13 on itsface not visible in this figure, and it also has two holes 7 in thevicinity of the nipples 6 and a pin 8 at its rear part.

The assembly of the spring 2 on plate 1 is accomplished by introducingnipples 6 into the two holes 3 in plate 1, which insures a sufficientsummary attachment for the presentation of the support for assembly.

As a matter of fact, the various holes and pins are disposed so that,when the nipples are engaged in holes 3, the holes 4 of the spring leaf2 are exactly opposite the holes 7 in plate 1. There is then introducedthrough the holes 4 and 7, nails or screws to make the attachment of theelastic support according to the invention to the shoe heel.

The fully assembled support, ready to be attached to a shoe, is foldedat the front part of plate 1 to form a hinge 9 (FIG. 4).

If the nipples 6 are on the other face of the plate, two openings in theplate can be provided which come opposite nipples 6 when the support isfolded again. This is done in order to avoid a superthickness.

If the elastic support is pinched, the pin 8 will be embedded in opening5 and the support remains closed. This does not detract from any of theadvantages of the support due to its flexibility and, on the contrary,gives it a more aesthetic appearance in the shoe. Note, moreover, thatan elastic support that is too open can be annoying at the moment thefoot is introduced into the shoe. Moreover, the pin prevents any lateralmovement of the up per plate with respect to the spring leaf.

A second embodiment of the support according to the invention is shownin FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. The spring leaf 2 can be the same as in the firstform of embodiment (FIG. 1).

The upper plate 1 of FIG. 5 has two holes 10 in its front part 13, and apin 8 in its rear part. The mounting of the spring leaf 2 on the plate 1is done by placing the holes 10 of the plate opposite the holes 3 of thespring leaf and introducing, for example, rivets 11 in these pairs offacing holes.

In contrast to the case of the first form of embodiment (FIG. 3), thespring leaf 2 is here fixed firmly and definitely to the upper plate 1.It remains to attach the spring leaf 2 to the heel of the shoe byintroducing, for example, nails or screws through holes 4. The remarksconcerning the hinge 9 and the pin 8 remain applicable to this secondform of embodiment.

The elastic support according to the invention is very flexible, veryeasy to install and quite low in cost.

In each form of embodiment of the invention, the upper plate 1 canassume two forms. It can be plane as well as convex in one direction orthe other. It is particularly advantageous that it be concave withrespect to the leaf spring 2 (that is to say that it appears convex whenit is placed on the shoe), because it then reinforces the effect ofsuspension insured by the spring leaf.

It goes without saying that the present invention is described by way ofexplanation and is in no way limiting, and that we can impart manymodifications thereto without departing from its scope. For instance,the nipples 6 and the holes 3 can be in any number higher than two. Thesame is true of holes 4, 7 and 10. Furthermore, there is not necessarilya single pin 8 and a single opening 5. Pins 8 can belong to the springleaf 2, with the openings 5 then being in plate 1. Finally, the nipples6 and rivets 11 can be replaced by equivalent means.

The attachment of the leaf to the shoe heel can be done by nails,screws, hooks, etc. Moreover, the spring leaf 2 can be glued to theheel.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A resilient heel support for use in combination with a shoe having aheel and an inner sole, said heel support comprising in combination asemi-rigid upper plate supported on a flexing spring leaf positionableon said inner sole, said upper plate having an upper surface, a lowersurface, a forward edge and a rearward edge, said spring leaf beingconcave toward the upper plate lower surface and including a pluralityof side wings extending toward said upper plate lower surface, saidspring leaf being secured to said upper plate by securement of the frontedge thereof to the forward edge of said upper plate, the outer edges ofsaid side wings freely resting in actual contact against the lowersurface of said upper plate whereby when pressure is applied downwardlyagainst the upper surface of said upper plate, said side wings willslide outwardly relative to said upper plate in actual contact therewithto create a constant counter-pressure over a wide range of appliedpressures.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said spring leaf has at one end atleast one first hole and at least one second hole, said spring leaf andupper plate being brought together and fastening means passing throughsaid first hole and securing said spring leaf and said upper platetogether, said spring leaf being adaptedto be secured to said shoe byfastening means passing through said second hole, said upper plate beingfolded in a hinge to lie over said spring leaf with said upper platealso including at least one nipple which is received in said first hole.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said spring leaf includes anopening, with said upper plate including a pin received in said openingto maintain said support in the lateral position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,154,340 9/1915 Rolfe 36372,414,707 1/ 1947 Barnett 3637 X 3,142,910 8/1964 Levine 36-37 X3,214,849 11/1965 Nadaud 36-37 FOREIGN PATENTS 472,735 8/ 1914 France.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

A. GUEST, Assistant Examiner.

1. A RESILIENT HEEL SUPPORT FOR USE IN COMBINATION WITH A SHOE HAVING AHEEL AND AN INNER SOLE, SAID HEEL SUPPORT COMPRISING IN COMBINATION ASEMI-RIGID SUPPORT PLATE SUPPORTED ON A FLEXING SPRING LEAF POSITIONABLEON SAID INNER SOLE, SAID UPPER PLATE HAVING AN UPPER SURFACE, A LOWERSURFACE, A FORWARD EDGE AND A REARWARD EDGE, SAID SPRING LEAF BEINGCONCAVE TOWARD THE UPPER PLATE LOWER SURFACE AND INCLUDING A PLURALITYOF SIDE WINGS EXTENDING TOWARD SAID UPPER PLATE LOWER SURFACE, SAIDSPRING LEAF BEING SECURED TO SAID UPPER PLATE BY SECUREMENT OF THE FRONT